


A start

by artepotter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Auror Harry Potter, First Kiss, Getting Together, Harry Potter Needs a Hug, M/M, Post-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Post-The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), bittersweet but definitely nice ending, percy jackson takes a bath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-17 11:38:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18964483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artepotter/pseuds/artepotter
Summary: Percy Jackson has been wandering around Manhattan for a while now, killing greek monsters day and night. Harry Potter auror-in-training checks on him on a specifically bad night.After all, they were close friends before, they own this to each other, right?





	A start

‘Why are you doing this?’  
Under those layers of fresh, hopefully non-human blood, his skin couldn’t be seen. Percy Jackson couldn’t be seen.  
‘Someone has to take care of these bastards.’ he answered after a moment of hesitation.  
‘You know damn well they can’t hurt mortals.’ Harry’s tone was quite impatient. The auror probably had a long day, but why did he bother checking on an old friend then?, Percy thought.  
‘They can hurt us. You.’  
Manhattan’s constant noise somehow became obliterated, the crowd passing in front of the alley became one with the night and the neon lights of dozens of shops.  
Percy finally turned around after giving a last look at the place that monster last breathed air. He was still holding Riptide with imperceptibly trembling hands; the slight glimmer gave his features a pale golden color in the dark alley.  
‘It wasn’t going to hurt anybody, as far as I could see.’ Harry pulled his hands out of the trench coat’s pockets.  
Was it cold? The adrenalin heated Percy so much he couldn’t tell.  
‘Annabeth and Hermione told me about your one-person missions you’ve been doing.’ the wizard continued, stepping forward with hesitant expression. ‘I just…’  
‘Wanted to check on me? You don’t need to, pal. Or is this an another auror thing? Playing the good cop?’ Percy crossed his arms, he studied his friend’s emerald green gaze.  
‘No, Percy, it’s a friend thing. I know I can rarely visit Camp because of the training, but I can still be worried about you.’  
‘You didn’t seem so worried in the past six months’ Percy snorted.  
‘Okay, look-’ Harry almost raised his voice, but a broken sigh came out of his mouth. ‘I did not come here to argue with you, okay? Let’s… let’s go home and get all this dirt off you. Please.’  
An unbelievable amount of time has passed since their last summer spent together in Camp Half-Blood. On dark days, Percy still recalled those nights when they just got drunk sang songs from Disney’s Hercules on the beach with Hermione, Jason and the others.  
After Percy’s 18th birthday, Harry began his auror training and left, just like that. The son of Poseidon couldn’t even explain to himself why he felt grief in his bones or why he refused to talk to anyone about it. As weeks and months passed, he started to lose hope that things will ever be the same.  
But now, oh gods, Harry fucking Potter just stepped into his life again as an elegant English gentleman, and he made Percy’s heart skip beats again. It felt so unreal after Percy convinced himself they weren’t even such a great duo, and this drifting-apart was probably the best for them.  
He stood three feet away from him, reaching for Percy’s hand. Before the demigod took it, there was a short moment as they stopped for a moment to stare into each other’s eyes.  
They apparated in Percy’s flat. Sally and Paul were having a late-night snack at the kitchen table, and straight-up jumped up as the two boys appeared next to the couch. Percy was covered in blood and ready to pass out while Harry, with Mariana-trench deep circles under his eyes, keenly held him.  
‘What are you…Harry…’ Sally tried to search for the proper question, Harry’s expression muted her.  
The boys stumbled to the bathroom slow and steady. Harry closed the doors behind them.  
‘Okay, easy’ Harry slowly let Percy go as he sat down in the bathtub. ‘Can you take off your shirt?’ he asked, as he checked his shoulder injury.  
‘You know, if you wanted me to take off my shirt, you should have just asked earlier’ Percy let out a weak, almost pathetic laugh.  
‘Now you have the energy to joke, Jackson?’  
The bathtub slowly started filling up with water as Percy undressed. That previous soft smile on his lips slowly turned into numbness as the water washed down the dirt and blood from his skin. He was staring at his scarred hands which held the sponge, until Harry knelt down next to the bathtub.  
‘You want me to do it?’ he whispered.  
Percy nodded and handed the sponge to the wizard.  
Harry’s hands moved gently, paying attention to all the small cuts running through his arms and torso. Uncertain silence fell to the warriors as the water’s gurgle echoed in the room.  
‘Percy… I know what those monsters have done to your cousins and your home. The last thing I would do is to protect them, I want you to know that, okay? It’s you that worries me, it has always been you. Those monsters weren’t near anyone who could got hurt by them. I just think you should…’  
‘Finally give up on fighting?’ Percy asked with a noticeable amount of sarcasm in his voice. As much as Harry adored it, he decided to ignore it now.  
‘Yeah, I know, I’m not quite the right person to tell you that continue fighting is not exactly the most efficient way to deal with PTSD, but you know, it was worth a try.’  
They laughed, in a way so bitter and broken no 18-year-old should be able to.  
‘I thought I was trying to help others with being an auror’ Harry wondered quietly. ‘Turns out, it’s just another way to keep me moving.’  
‘You’re not going to finish the training?’  
‘I don’t think so. But the more important thing is you to know that I won’t be here every time you’re covered in blood to clear you up.’  
Harry’s fingers stopped washing Percy’s dark strands. They didn’t even look at each other until Percy washed down the rest of the shampoo off his head and stepped out of the bathtub. Harry thought he was going to reach for a towel, but instead he pulled him into a hug.  
Percy’s wet arms around him soaked his shirt, but again, with Percy’s arms around him, he couldn’t care less.  
They put half a year of insecurity and doubt in that hug, which lasted so much more longer than it should have been allowed for friends.  
Harry, putting all of his bravery together (Gryffindor style), stroked the other boy’s hair and just kissed him. Not long, not with that amount of intensity he imagined their first kiss to be, but at that moment, it was more than enough.  
‘If this is the moment when you’re going to say no homo bro, I shall drown you in the bathtub, Potter’ said the demigod, pulling closer.  
They just kept laughing and laughing, until they got tired holding each other.  
Maybe it was a start of something new.


End file.
